Concerned locals are calling for action from Test Valley Borough Council amid an influx of Turkish-style barbers in Andover town centre.  

Many claim their businesses are suffering due to clashes competing for customers.

Khder has been working for the Andover Barbers for one year and using his mobile phone, showed how many hairdressers were located nearby: “There are sixteen, it’s too many, there aren’t enough people wanting their hair cut, but what can I do?”

Father of three, Deniz Rasim, 30 and his wife Zeyneb Ahmed, 32 opened their shop, the Istanbul Barber, in Swan Court last week: “There are lots of barbers in the town now, I applied in 2021 because I wanted to run my own business, but in that three years, lots of barbers have opened.”

Deniz Rasim & wife Zeyneb Ahmed  (Image: Caroline Simpson)

Deniz said he now has concerns for his future: “I think the council should put a stop on how many barbers open, because a lot of barbers will go out of business. I’m worried, this is my livelihood.”

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But one longstanding barber, who’s been cutting hair for 40 years and wanted to remain anonymous questioned why so many Turkish style barbers were setting up in the town. He said: “There have always been a lot of barbers in the town but there’s been an influx in the last 3-4 years, I don’t understand why and how they’re all staying in business.”

Some owners are calling for the tough council regulations. The manager of The Cutting Edge, Nina said: “When we opened eight years ago there were only two Turkish barbers, now there must be twenty. Over 70 percent of our customers are women, if we just cut men’s hair we’d be out of business. Her business partner, Andy agreed: “Hairdressing’s not regulated, a lot of shops are opening up, it needs to be better managed.”

Ave Jones, manager of Rigby’s been in Andover for nine years. A traditional barbers, he said he had many regulars and his business hadn’t been affected: “It doesn’t bother me, we do 80-90 haircuts a week but for other people that are struggling I think it is a problem, we wonder how they can afford to stay open when they always appear empty.”

A spokesperson from Test Valley Borough Council said: “The nature of town centres is changing across the country and as a result it is not uncommon to see more businesses opening to provide services that cannot be offered online. These businesses encourage people to continue to come into the town to shop and support a thriving and competitive local economy. In this particular case the council is not the landlord for the property.”

The Council also said that private landlords are responsible for letting retail units to businesses in the town centre. Apart from units which are owned by Test Valley Borough Council, TVBC is not involved in any other rental agreements in the town.